Seed List

This year we are including the full Seed List with our bracket updates. As time permits I’ll try to update the list more frequently. The actual Seed List is updated daily. Early in the season, teams tend to move more freely and quickly as the overall body of work is smaller. Below are two tables used to display the current s-curve – a tool used by the Selection Committee to seed teams into the bracket.

A couple of things to note:

Teams listed in ALL CAPS are now teams who have earned an automatic conference bid to the tournament (with the exception of teams that use abbreviations like UCLA, LSU).

The S-Curve / Seed List is not meant to be a poll. It is a ranking or listing of teams based on the overall field at the time of publication. Although we’ve seen it with Wichita State and Gonzaga in recent years – and rightfully so – teams outside the major (Power 5) conferences have extra work to do in reaching the top two seed lines. Whether it’s RPI, KenPem or some other metric, a variety of factors go into a Seed List at the end of the season. The Seed List reflects the 68-team field – and next contenders – not the entire college hoops landscape.

Updated: March 15, 2015 | 5:46 p.m. ET

To make it easier to follow, I didn’t use an actual “S” shape on the table; rather the highest seed on each line is to the left.

MARCH 15 SEED LIST RANKINGS | 1-68 – FINAL

1. KENTUCKY

2. VILLANOVA

3. Duke

4. WISCONSIN

5. Virginia

6. ARIZONA

7. GONZAGA

8. Kansas

9. NOTRE DAME

10. IOWA STATE

11. Maryland

12. Oklahoma

13. North Carolina

14. Baylor

15. NORTHERN IOWA

16. Louisville

17. West Virginia

18. Wichita State

19. Arkansas

20. Providence

21. SMU

22. Butler

23.Georgetown

24. Michigan State

25. Utah

26. Xavier

27. Iowa

28. VCU

29. San Diego State

30. Oregon

31. NC State

32. Dayton

33. Ohio State

34. St. John’s

35. Cincinnati

36. Purdue

37. Oklahoma St

38. Georgia

39. LSU

40. Davidson

41. Mississippi

42. Indiana

43. Texas

44. Colorado State

45. Boise State

46. Temple

47. WYOMING

48. WOFFORD

49. S.F. AUSTIN

50. BUFFALO

51. VALPARAISO

52. HARVARD

53. GEORGIA ST

54. NEW MEXICO ST

55. UC-IRVINE

56. NO DAKOTA ST

57. E. WASHINGTON

58. ALBANY

59. NORTHEASTERN

60. BELMONT

61. TX-SOUTHERN

62. UAB

63. CO. CAROLINA

64. NO. FLORIDA

65. MANHATTAN

66. LAFAYETTE

67. ROBERT MORRIS

68. HAMPTON

This is where the FIRST OUT at-large teams begin. While BYU (in this case) isn’t rated lower than Hampton, automatic qualifiers have to be ranked within the Field of 68. That’s why I’ve compiled the seed list this way. Other sites choose to compile the list differently. Either way is fine. To me, it’s just easier to see the clear break from which teams are IN and which are close but in the next tier.

SEED LIST RANKINGS | 69 – 80

69. BYU

70. Miami-FL

71. Texas AM

72. UCLA

73. Connecticut

74. Tulsa

75. Old Dominion

76. Murray State

77. Illinois

78. Rhode Island

79. Stanford

80. Richmond

81. Green Bay

82. Louisiana Tech

Hopefully, you enjoy this addition to Bracketville. Thanks for you continued interest. Please share your thoughts. That’s a huge part of the fun as we work toward Selection Sunday.

I can’t see how Purdue a team that lost to both Gardner-Webb and North Florida at home and is only 14-8 can be in the field at this point. I know it’s a weak bubble (shocker I know) but not yet that weak. They play Ohio State at home Wednesday a huge game for both teams.

Good to hear from you. Boilers are certainly bubbly. But here’s the thing; a bad two-week stretch in December is what’s really killing Purdue (and it’s part of their resume for sure). There’s a lot of decent work on other side of ledger – given current bubble. As a side note, ESPN’s BPI Index would have Boilers “IN” today – Feb. 14. KenPom has that just two spots behind IU and one ahead of Illinois (Feb. 14). Work left to do for sure.

Your seed list still says Feb 11th on top and how does Ohio State lose to Michigan State and move up from 23 to 22 ? You have Ohio State much higher then most people. On another site I follow closely at Hoops HD they have Ohio State as a 9 seed. I argued with them they should be a 6 or 7 seed but after the Michigan State loss I have given up they just can’t get a quality road win.

Henry .. fixed the date; in the haste to get everything uploaded this morning, I missed it. Thanks. As to Ohio State, keep in mind two things: nothing happens in a vacuum (it’s not just what Ohio State does or doesn’t do). Second, which team moves up? Right now, there wasn’t a team behind them that’s earned a move up – and losing at Michigan State isn’t a bad loss by any means. Ultimately, OSU will have to win a valuable road game to stay in the top half of the bracket. But given the mediocrity of resumes from even 7-seeds down, other factors such as the eye test, etc. were a factor. And most of their road losses in tough venues have been close. Purely on profile, OSU is an 8/9 seed candidate, but so is Georgetown (IMO) and SMU, and maybe West Virginia, and San Diego State, and well, you get the idea. Thirdly, I don’t worry too much about where other people rank teams; I have an idea of overall landscape. I’ve been doing this too long to base what I do on others. Various opinions are great, make for fun debate. We’ll get more accurate next month, but there’s always a couple of teams that the Committee views differently; that’s the way it is.

Given the fact that Ohio State has just three wins against projected tourney teams (same as Illinois), is 3-6 in road games, and has a non-conference SOS over 200, an 7-8 seed seems about right, even with a 10-6 B10 record. Beating Purdue at home Sunday as more about holding their spot than moving up.

I don’t currently have Purdue on the immediate bubble. With this year’s group of resumes, teams No. 28-30 are still technically on the bubble in the sense that I wouldn’t yet call them “IN” if they lose out.

BYU has 1 top 50 win all year and moves from 7 teams out to inside the bubble you would have thought they would need more than 1 top 50 win (not to mention only 3 more top 100 wins) Must be a very weak bubble when 1 win means that much.

Henry … first, it is a very weak bubble. Second, BYU has a top 20 non-conference schedule, which matters to the Committee. Also, several teams between where they were on Friday and where they were this morning lost – including Stanford, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Texas. So it was more than just their win – albeit on the road at a tough venue (Gonzaga). When the teams on the bubble all have gaping holes in their profiles, a big win, big loss, or losses around you can move a team up/or down several spots. Doesn’t mean they are “IN.” In fact, I’m not sure BYU can handle any loss other than to Gonzaga in the WCC final. And then it will depend upon what other bubble teams do.

When the committee got together to do a mock run for the media, they listed BYU as the second out. They have won 4 straight games since then along with their massive win over Gonzaga this past weekend. I feel they are more safe than a lot of brackets have them. So long as the beat Saint Mary’s in the WCC Semi’s they will have an RPI of around 31. Be hard for them to be left out with those numbers.

Thanks for your interest. Various metrics like the Cougars, and their RPI number (which is good) is somewhat a product of its SOS number(s). At this moment, BYU has one win against a projected NCAA – albeit it a big one at Gonzaga. One could make an equally valid argument that BYU hasn’t done enough – which is why they are part of the First Four. Believe they have to reach WCC final to stay where they are. Four top 100 wins is behind some other bubble teams when compared with those two losses to Pepperdine and one to San Diego. BYU could also get passed – by someone like Texas, Illinois, UCLA, etc. who could post more quality Ws down the stretch.

Indiana at 36 seems pretty high especially after another home loss last night. Many have talked as if they are on the bubble and could miss the tournament if they don’t win their final regular season game and bow out early in the Big 10 tournament.

Again .. I think you’re overvaluing a 36 number. They fell 10 slots on the Seed List this morning. that’s two full lines. A loss Saturday to Michigan State would drop them further while a win probably keeps them where they are. Indiana’s position finally gave way last night; it had been teetering for a while. Indiana has 5 Top 50 wins, which is more than most other bubble teams. IU squarely on the bubble at this point, even though their number is what it is … the teams just below them: Oregon, Ole Miss, Cincy, Oklahoma St, NC State – none of which I think right now would be ahead of them.

Breaking down the Wichita State resume. Their RPI is fantastic at 11 right now but a closer look at their actual wins leaves something to be desired. For all the teams we talk about having so few wins over tournament teams on the bubble it seems to me everyone is giving Wichita State a protected seed and who have they really beat ?

RPI 15 – Northern Iowa at home
RPI 31 – Tulsa at home

So they have 2 top 70 teams both at home

That’s it folks those are their only wins vs a tourney team and a bubble team and both at home.

So when we are saying teams like Ohio State hasn’t beaten anyone on the road that is a tourney team then you look at Wichita State who also has 0 road wins vs tourney teams no one talks about that.

So they are a 4/5 seed based on those 2 wins ? Just asking. I agree that is where the NCAA committee will put them but just asking why.

A Top 50 non-conference SOS and a 26-3 record have a lot to do with it. One of their three losses was at Utah by one point. I’m not sure WSU can climb above the 5 line without some help, but I think a 5-6 is likely.

How much is UGA’s profile impacted by Ole Miss and Texas A&M finishing just inside the Top 50 or just outside the Top 50? Or do the 9 Top 100 wins help keep UGA pretty safe even with a loss to Ole Miss this weekend?

The odd thing is that by losing to Ole Miss Friday night, they would gain two Top 50 wins. If they beat Ole Miss, they are likely to finish with zero.

I worry about Georgia and Ole Miss I think you have them too high. I think 1 of those 2 are in danger of dropping out if UCONN wins today (even if they don’t win today) and you have them both not even in the First 4.

Really I think there are 9 teams for 8 spots (7 spots if UCONN wins)

I would not be surprised if any of these 9 teams miss the field.

Georgia, LSU, Indiana, Ole Miss, Texas, Colorado St, Boise St, Temple, BYU. If Wyoming lost those would be my last 8 in the field.

I think Miami FL is out but I would not be completely shocked if they made it based on the road win at Duke but I think they have too many questionable losses to get in and are among my first 4 out.

I think UCLA is out but you never know.

I don’t think Murray State gets in but if the committee threw a major curveball that be the team but bad non conf SOS and only 1 top 100 win keeps them out.

I posted this right at 6PM on this site I forgot to post here at 6 PM but showing proof I did I got a lot of seeds right but I only got 66 of the 68 and very disappointed I had Ole Miss #69 and UCLA #71 and the 2 I missed Colorado State and Temple were the real committee’s #69 and #70 I do believe. So frustrating I would have never got UCLA right I never thought they would make it. I thought Ole Miss might get in based on their good wins but thought their bad losses might drop them Temple did not get credit for their games without their best players missed.

Henry, I didn’t even see your comment until today. Congratulations on your accomplishment! I appreciate your interest. The entire seed list (in a column format) was quite lengthy, so I chose not to list it. The other part of your comment is posted.